JPH09139655A - Channel selection method for channel selection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the convenience of use of the channel selection device by informing a favorite function to the user not knowing the favorite channel selection function. SOLUTION: In the case that plural favorite channels are set in advance to this device by the user and stored in a storage means 105, when the user operates a favorite channel selection key, a favorite channel is read from the storage means 105 and displayed on a display screen in an identified way. The user can make the channel selection operation on this display menu. When the favorite channel is not set, a channel corresponding to program based a past channel selection history stored in a channel history storage means 105 storing the past channel selection history is displayed on the display screen as a favorite channel in an identification enable way and the user makes channel selection on the displayed menu.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention allows, for example, a television receiver or a radio receiver to easily select a program that a receiver frequently views from among a large number of receivable program compatible channels. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a tuning method and a tuning device that enable the tuning.

[0002] In this specification, the term "program-corresponding channel" refers to a channel number assigned to a broadcasting station, and is distinguished from a transmission channel numbered for each frequency band obtained by dividing the transmission band of a broadcast wave. I will. Incidentally, for example, in the current terrestrial television broadcasting in Japan, the number of the transmission channel and the number of the program compatible channel are usually the same, but in the digital television broadcasting started in North America, one transmission The format is such that programs of a plurality of broadcasting stations are simultaneously transmitted to a channel, or programs of one broadcasting station are broadcast on different transmission channels.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art There are a large number of program compatible channels for television broadcasting and radio broadcasting. For example, in the above-mentioned digital television broadcasting, broadcasting of 150 program compatible channels is possible. However, the program-corresponding channels that are frequently watched differ depending on the user, but are often limited to a specific plurality of program-corresponding channels.

Therefore, for example, with respect to the selection of a television broadcast, instead of selecting from a large number of all channels compatible with a viewable program, a plurality of users with a high selection rate, which are preset by the user, are selected. There has been proposed a tuning method called a so-called favorite channel selection function, which enables selection from a channel.

That is, a television receiver adopting this channel selection method is provided with a setting screen for a favorite program compatible channel (hereinafter referred to as favorite channel). Select one or more favorite channels that you think you will watch frequently. Then, the television receiver stores the set favorite channel in the built-in memory.

When a key operation for selecting the function of this channel selection method is performed by a remote controller or the like, the television receiver reads out from the built-in memory one or a plurality of favorite channels set, and, for example, The contents of the favorite channel thus read out at that time are displayed as a plurality of small screens on the screen together with the channel numbers by using the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-136089. To do.

[0007] Then, the user can refer to the plurality of small screens displayed on this screen and select the program-corresponding channel that he / she wants to watch from among them.

[0008]

However, in the above-described favorite channel selection method using the favorite channel selection function, the user selects and calls up the favorite channel setting screen from, for example, the menu, and sets one or more favorite channels. It cannot be used effectively until later. In other words, in the case of a television receiver that recognizes the existence of the channel selection function by this channel selection method, only the user who has set the favorite channel can use the channel selection function, and the favorite channel is not set. In some cases, the user may not even be able to recognize the existence or effectiveness of the tuning function.

Further, some users find it troublesome to set favorite channels.

In view of the above points, the present invention enables the user to identify one or a plurality of program-corresponding channels that are likely to be selected by the user, regardless of whether the favorite channel is set by the user or not. It is an object of the present invention to provide a channel selection method and a channel selection device which are displayed on the display screen and can be targeted for channel selection.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, one or a plurality of favorite program-corresponding channels preset by the user are stored in the storage means and a predetermined key input is performed. According to the above, the favorite program corresponding channel is read from the storage means, the favorite program corresponding channel is displayed on the display screen in a state in which the user can identify, and the user selects a channel on the display screen. In a tuning method of performing a channel selection from among the one or more favorite program corresponding channels by performing an operation, a channel history storage unit for storing a past selection state of the program corresponding channel is provided, When the channel corresponding to the desired program is not set by the user, the channel history storage means is used. Characterized in that a program corresponding channel based on historical selected channel history that are 憶 was set to be displayed on the display screen in identifiable state.

Further, the tuning apparatus according to the present invention is a tuning means for selecting a desired program-corresponding channel signal from a broadcast wave according to a tuning control signal, and the tuning operation according to a user's tuning operation. Channel control signal generating means for generating a station control signal, set channel storage means for storing one or more program corresponding channels set by the user, and past selection state of the program corresponding channels by the channel selecting means And a channel history storing means for storing the set program-corresponding channel by judging whether or not there is a program-corresponding channel set by the user in the set channel storing means when a predetermined key input is made. If there is, the program corresponding channel stored in the set channel storage means is displayed in an identifiable state. Control means for displaying on the screen, and when there is no set program corresponding channel, the program corresponding channel based on the past channel history stored in the channel history storage means is displayed on the display screen in an identifiable state. And selecting the channel corresponding to the program from the display on the display screen.

Further, the tuning apparatus according to the present invention is a tuning means for selecting a desired program-corresponding channel signal from a broadcast wave according to a tuning control signal, and the tuning operation according to a user's tuning operation. Channel control signal generating means for generating a station control signal, set channel storage means for storing one or more program corresponding channels set by the user, and past selection state of the program corresponding channels by the channel selecting means And a channel history storage means for storing the first key input, the program corresponding channel stored in the setting channel storage means is displayed on the display screen in an identifiable state, and the second key input is performed. If there is, the program corresponding channel based on the past channel history stored in the channel history storage means is selected. And a control means for displaying on the display screen in a different possible state, characterized in that the tuning operation of the user including the selection operation of the program corresponding channel from the display of the display screen.

According to the present invention configured as described above,
Even when the favorite channel is not set by the user, the program-corresponding channel selected in the past and read from the channel history storage means is displayed on the display screen. Therefore, even when the user does not set a plurality of program-corresponding channels that he / she prefers, a favorite that selects from among a plurality of program-corresponding channels that are likely to be selected by the user. The tuning function can be used effectively.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a channel selecting device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by taking a case of a television receiver for receiving analog television broadcast waves using terrestrial waves as an example. .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a television receiver of this embodiment. This television receiver has a so-called picture-in-picture (hereinafter, referred to as PinP) function capable of displaying a sub-screen in a small area of a part of the display screen, and has one or more favorite channels. In order to realize the favorite channel selection function from the inside, it is configured to have a function capable of displaying a plurality of small screens on a part of the display screen (this function is hereinafter referred to as a multi-small screen function).

In FIG. 1, broadcast radio waves received by the antenna 1 are distributed and supplied to the first and second tuners 2M and 2S. In these tuners 2M and 2S, a predetermined program-corresponding channel is selected by a tuning control signal from a control circuit 100 composed of a microcomputer described later. in this case,
The channel selection control signal is data for setting the frequency division ratio of the variable frequency divider in the PLL synthesizer channel selection system.

In this case, the channel selection control signal is generated by the control circuit 100 in response to a user's selection operation via a remote control signal transmitter (hereinafter referred to as a remote commander), and in the favorite channel selection function described later. As in the case of startup, the control circuit 1
00 itself may be generated.

The tuners 2M and 2S convert the broadcast wave signal of the selected channel corresponding to the program into a video intermediate frequency signal and supply it to the video intermediate frequency amplification and detection circuits 3M and 3S, respectively. Then, in these circuits 3M and 3S, the intermediate frequency signal is amplified and the video signal and the audio signal are demodulated. Note that in FIG. 1, the audio signal system after demodulation is omitted for simplicity of explanation.

Video intermediate frequency and detection circuits 3M and 3
The demodulated video signal from S is the signal switching circuit 4
Respectively. The signal switching circuit 4 is switched by a switching signal from the control circuit 100, the video signal from one of the circuits 3M and 3S is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 5 for the main screen, and the other of the circuits 3M and 3S is supplied. The demodulated video signal of is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 6 for the child screen.

In the video signal processing circuit 5, the control circuit 100
The image quality adjustment of the main screen and the like are performed so that the image quality according to the user's preference is obtained by, for example, the image quality adjustment signal according to the image quality adjustment operation of the user.

The video signal processing circuit 6 performs processing such as compression of the image size of the input video signal so that it is displayed as a PinP sub-screen.

The video signal to be input to the video signal processing circuit 6 for the small screen is also supplied to the multi-small screen processing circuit 7. In this embodiment, the multi-small screen processing circuit 7 is configured as shown in FIG.

That is, the multi-small screen processing circuit 7 includes an A / D converter 71 for converting the video signal supplied to the circuit 7 into a digital signal, and a multi-small screen storage section 72.
A memory controller 73 for controlling the writing of the video signal to the storage unit 72 and the reading of the video signal from the storage unit 72; and a D for returning the digital video signal read from the storage unit 72 to an analog video signal. An A / A converter 74 and a channel number and broadcasting station name superimposing circuit 75 are provided.

In the case of this embodiment, in the multi-small screen function, small screens of broadcast programs of five different program-corresponding channels are displayed in the small screen P in the screen display of FIG.
1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 are superimposed on the main screen MP so that they can be displayed on the display screen 10D. Therefore, the storage unit 72 has five small screen memories 721, 722 ... 725.

The memory controller 73 has a memory 721.
To 725, the memory for writing or reading is controlled, and the writing or reading address is controlled.

Channel number and broadcasting station name superposition circuit 7
5 is read from the small screen memories 721 to 725,
In addition, a channel number and its broadcasting station for identifying, for each small screen, the program corresponding channel of the broadcast program to which each small screen data converted into an analog video signal by the D / A converter 74. The name is superimposed on the small screen data. The channel number and its broadcasting station name are supplied from the control circuit 100 as described later.

Then, as shown in FIG.
In P5, the program corresponding channel number and the broadcast station name of the program displayed on each small screen are displayed.

In the case of this embodiment, the control circuit 100 causes the five small screens P1 to P5 to be displayed on the screen 10D in the following manner. That is, in this embodiment, when the favorite channel selection function is activated, the control circuit 100 transmits the channel selection control signals of five favorite channels, which will be described later, at predetermined time intervals, for example, 200 msec intervals. Then, in the tuner of one of the tuners 2M and 2S for the sub screen,
Supply cyclically.

Then, in the tuner, the above-mentioned 200 m
During each sec, the favorite channel is selected by the tuning control signal given at that time. At this time, the control circuit 100 sends an image capture signal to the memory controller 73 of the multi-small screen processing circuit 7 in synchronization with the change of the tuning control signal supplied to the tuner.

The memory controller 73 has a capacity of 200 mse.
Upon receiving the image capture signal for each c, one of the five small screen memories 721 to 725 is sequentially switched and selected every 200 msec in synchronization with the change of the channel selection control signal. Then, one image consisting of a predetermined one frame (or one field) of one favorite channel in the 200 msec period is converted into image data of a small image corresponding to the small screen, and the data of the small image is converted into the small screen. Write to the selected one of the memories 721 to 725 for use.

In synchronization with the change of channel selection, five memories 72
Since the small screen memory to which writing is performed among 1 to 725 is changed, an image of one favorite channel is stored in the same small screen memory as 200 msec × 5 =
It is updated and written every one second. In this case, what is written in each of the small screen memories 721 to 725 is one small screen (still image) corresponding to one frame within 200 msec, which is rewritten every one second. The small images on the small screens P1 to P5 are so-called frame dropping images.

Then, the memory controller 73 repeatedly reads the small images written in the small screen memories 721 to 725 while the favorite channel selection function is selected. In this case, the small screen memories 721 to 7
The image data is read out from the memory 25 by a clock synchronized with the horizontal synchronizing signal and the vertical synchronizing signal of the video signal of the main screen. For example, the small image from the memory 721 is stored in the memory of the small screen P1 in FIG. The small image from 722 is read and displayed in the area of the small screen P2 in FIG. 3, and the small image from the memory 725 is read and displayed in the area of the small screen P5 in FIG. In this case, the small image data is read from all the five memories 721 to 725 in the section of each area during one frame.

The image data read from the small screen memories 721 to 725 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 74, and then supplied to the channel number and broadcasting station name superimposing circuit 75. A signal for displaying the channel number and the broadcasting station name of the corresponding program-corresponding channel is supplied to the superposition circuit 75 in synchronization with the reading of the memories 721 to 725 from the control circuit 100.
The small screens P1 to P5 are superimposed. Then, the synthesis circuit 8
Through, the number and the broadcasting station name are displayed on the screen of the display 10 in the five small screens P1 to P5 as shown in FIG.

As described above, the multi-small screens P1 to P5
Is displayed, each small screen P of the screen 10D is displayed.
What is displayed on 1, P2, ..., P5 is a so-called frame drop image in which the screen changes every second. However, even at this level, the image contents can be sufficiently grasped. In addition, if you shorten the tuning change cycle,
Of course, each small screen becomes an image that is easier to see.

The small screens P1 to P5 shown in FIG.
Since the channel number and the broadcasting station name are superimposed, the user can easily understand which program corresponding channel and broadcasting station name the program of each small screen is.

The synthesizing circuit 8 receives signals from the video signal processing circuit 5 for the main screen, the video signal processing circuit 6 for the child screen of PinP and the multi-small screen processing circuit 7, and receives the control circuit 1.
In response to the synthesis control signal from 00, the image signal forming the screen 10D displayed on the CRT display 10 is formed.

The synthesizing circuit 8 has, for example, a PinP function,
When the favorite channel selection function is not activated,
Only the video signal from the video signal processing circuit 5 for the main screen is taken out and supplied to the CRT display 10 through the superimposition display processing circuit 9.

When the PinP function is activated,
By the combined signal from the control circuit 100, the video signal from the video signal processing circuit 5 for the main screen is changed from the video signal from the video signal processing circuit 6 for the sub screen in the area where the sub screen is displayed on the screen. The video signals are switched and combined. As a result, the screen 10D of the CRT display 10
Displays a so-called parent-child screen.

When the favorite channel selection function is activated, the composite signal from the control circuit 100 causes the main screen to be displayed in the area where the multi-small screen is displayed as shown in FIG. The video signal from the video signal processing circuit 5 is switched to the multi-small screen video signal from the multi-small screen processing circuit 6 to be combined. As a result, on the screen 10D of the CRT display 10,
As shown in FIG. 3 described above, a multi-small screen P is displayed in the main screen.
1 to P5 are displayed.

The superimposition display processing circuit 9 will be described later.
Characters, figures, symbols, etc. are displayed on the screen 10D on the basis of signals to be superimposed and displayed on the characters, figures, etc., which will be described later.
In addition, for example, a process of performing superimposed display in a state of superimposing or overlay display is performed. This superimposition processing is appropriately performed by a control signal supplied from the control circuit 100 to the superimposition display processing circuit 9. The signals to be superimposed and displayed are generated under the control of the control circuit 100, as described later.

Next, the control circuit 100 will be described.
In the television receiver of this example, when the so-called main power switch is turned on while being connected to the AC outlet, the power can be turned on / off by the remote commander, and the main power switch is turned on. In the state, the control circuit 100 is always in the operating state.

As described above, the control circuit 100
Is configured to include a microcomputer,
CPU 101 and ROM for system bus 102
103, DRAM 104, and SRAM 105 are connected. Also, for this system bus 102,
The I / O ports 111 to 120 are connected to input / output various signals.

Various programs are stored in the ROM 103, and display data of characters, figures, symbols to be superimposed and displayed is stored as will be described later.

The DRAM 104 is mainly used as a work area for calculations and the like. The SRAM 105 is used as a last memory function for the channel and volume by turning the power switch on and off, and as a recording area for holding channel history information described later. In this case, SR
The AM 105 has a configuration of a non-volatile memory that is a so-called battery power backup. Therefore, even when the power of the television receiver is off, the SRAM
The contents of 105 are backed up and will not disappear.

Then, for example, for tuner 2M and tuner 2S, I / O ports 111 and 112 are used.
A channel selection control signal is supplied from the control circuit 100 via the respective channels.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a clock circuit which keeps the current time and, in this example, a timer for generating an interrupt timing signal when a predetermined processing program is started by an interrupt, as will be described later. It also has the role of. In this example, although not shown, the clock circuit 11 is supplied with a power supply voltage from another power supply such as a primary battery or a secondary battery, and the power supply voltage is supplied even if the power switch of the television receiver is off. There is. The time information and the timer information from the clock circuit 11 are taken into the system bus 102 via the I / O port 113.

The CPU 101 executes the program to correct the time of the clock circuit 11.
This clock circuit 11 is not limited to hours, minutes, seconds
The information includes the month, day, and even the day of the week. However, in the case of this embodiment, if there is only day and time information, it is sufficient as a time parameter to be associated with channel history information, which will be described later.

In this specification, the channel history information is associated with the day of the week and the time of day, and is associated with the program corresponding channel in the tuner viewed as the main screen stored in the memory (SRAM 105). This is information on the selection status (that is, information on which program corresponding channel was being watched on the main screen at a certain time on a certain day in the past), and in this example, information for a plurality of weeks.

The signal switching circuit 4 includes an I / O port 1
A switching control signal according to a user's key operation on a remote commander described later is supplied via 14.

The video signal processing circuit 5 for the main screen is supplied from the control circuit 100 via the I / O port 115 with an image quality control signal or the like in accordance with a user's key operation on a remote commander described later. .

The video signal processing circuit 6 for the sub-screen receives I / O information such as channel selection channel of the sub-screen from the control circuit 100.
It is supplied through the port 116. This makes Pin
The channel corresponding to the tuning program of the child screen at P is displayed in the child screen.

As described above, the multi-small screen processing circuit 7 is supplied with the control signal of the small screen memory and the channel selection channel information of each small screen through the I / O port 117.

The composite circuit 8 is supplied with a composite control signal according to the user's remote commander operation through the I / O port 118, and the main screen independent screen, Pin
The parent-child screen of P and the multi-small screen are properly displayed 1
The synthesis circuit 8 is controlled so as to be displayed on the 0 screen.

Further, a control signal as to whether or not to perform the superimposed display is supplied to the superimposed display processing circuit 9 through the I / O port 119. Examples of this superimposed display include a display that shows the number of channels that have been switched when switching channels, a display of the current receiving channel, and a display that shows how much the volume has increased by a bar display. The menu display as described later is included.

Because of this superimposed display, the system bus 102
For, a video RAM 12 is connected. The video RAM 12 temporarily stores character information, symbol information, etc. formed by the control circuit 100 using the character information recorded in the ROM 103, and program control of the CPU 101 for superimposing display on the screen. According to the above, it is supplied to the superimposition display processing circuit 9 via the display controller 13.

In this case, the ROM 103 stores the font data of the characters and symbols necessary for the superimposed display and the image data, and the CPU 101 reads the font data and the image data of the required characters and symbols according to the program. Then, the image data of the video RAM 12 is transferred to an arbitrary address of the video RAM 12 and supplied to the superimposition display processing circuit 9 through the display controller 13, so that the image data of the video RAM 12 is combined with the video signal, and the screen 10D of the CRT display 10 is displayed. Will be displayed for an appropriate time.

As the superimposition display, overlay processing such as so-called superimposing is performed and the result is displayed on the CRT display 10.

Further, in the television receiver of this example, various controls are performed by the so-called wireless by the remote commander 14. When the remote commander 14 generates a remote control signal by infrared rays, for example, this is transmitted to the television. The remote control signal receiving / decoding unit 15 on the receiver side receives the light, the received remote control signal is decoded, and the decoded signal is supplied to the system bus 102 via the I / O port 120.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the external appearance of the remote commander 14. The remote commander 14 of this example has the power key 21, the muting key 22, and the operating keys as operation keys.
PinP key 23, parent-child replacement key 24, numeric keypad 25,
A channel display key 26 for switching whether to display a channel number or a broadcasting station name on the screen, a favorite channel selection key 27, a main screen (parent screen) channel sequential selection key 28, a volume key 29, and various setting screens are read out. Menu key 31, Up / Down key 32, Enter key 3
3, a return key 34, a reset key 35, and others.

The up / down key 32 functions as an operation key for performing a selection operation or the like on the setting screen when the menu key 31 is pressed and various setting screens are read out on the screen of the display 6. Also, in the normal mode other than the menu mode when the menu key 31 is pressed, P
It also works as a channel sequential selection key for inP sub-screens.

The CPU 101 uses the I / O port 120
Interpret the remote control signal taken in via the, and perform channel selection control, volume control, PinP synthesis control, multi-small-screen display control, various superimposition display control of menus, etc. according to the user's operation. ing.

For example, by using the PinP key 23, the PinP
If the function is not selected, one of the tuner 2M or the tuner 2S selected by the switching circuit 4, for example, the program of the program corresponding channel selected by the tuner 2M is independently displayed on the screen 10D of the display 10. .

At this time, the channel number is directly input using the ten keys 25, or when a specific program-corresponding channel is assigned to each of the ten keys 25, the corresponding ten key is operated to select. Channel (hereinafter referred to as direct tuning) channel selection key for main screen (main screen) 2
The channel selection state of the tuner 2M is changed by operating 8, and the program displayed on the screen 10D of the display 10 can be changed to another channel.

From this state, use the PinP key 23 to set Pi
When the nP function is selected, the image of the program selected by the tuner 2M is the main (parent) screen, and the image of the program selected by the second tuner 1S is the sub screen.
Each is displayed on the screen of the display 10.

In this case, the channel of the broadcast program displayed as the main screen can be changed by directly selecting a channel with the ten keys 25 or by operating the main screen channel sequential selection key 28 and displayed as the sub screen. The channel of the broadcast program in use can be changed by operating the up / down key 32.

From this state, the parent-child replacement key 24 is further added.
When is pressed, the signal switching circuit 4 causes the I / O port 1
The image of the program selected by the tuner 2S, which is switched by the switching control signal from 14, is used as the main screen.
Further, the image of the program selected by the tuner 2M is displayed on the screen of the display 10 as a child screen, and the parent screen and the child screen are switched.

When the user depresses the favorite channel selection key 27, as described above, the multi-small screen processing circuit 7 generates small images of the small screens P1 to P5 of the five program-corresponding channels. As shown in FIG. 3, an image in which the five small screens P1 to P5 are combined is displayed on the main screen (parent screen).

In the case of this embodiment, as the 5 multi-small images selected by the favorite channel selection function which is activated by pressing the favorite channel selection key 27, the user previously sets favorite channels. , A small image of the program of the set program corresponding channel is displayed. Then, when the favorite channel is not set by the user, the five program-corresponding channels determined based on the channel history stored in the channel history storage area of the SRAM 105 as described later are the favorite channels. And a small image of that program,
It is displayed as a multi-small image.

The user can set a favorite program compatible channel on the favorite channel setting screen selected from the menu screen.
That is, when the menu key 31 of the remote commander 14 is pressed, a list menu of favorite channel setting and other setting functions is displayed. When the user selects "favorite channel setting" from the list menu, the favorite channel setting screen is displayed on the screen 10D of the display 10.

That is, the control circuit 100 includes the ROM 10
3 and the video RAM 12 are used to generate display information for the favorite channel setting screen, and the favorite channel setting screen is displayed on the screen 10D of the display 10 through the display controller 13 and the superimposition display processing circuit 9.

Therefore, on the favorite channel setting screen, the user operates the remote commander 14 to select a favorite program-corresponding channel that he or she frequently selects, and in the case of this embodiment, Select 5 to set. Then, the control circuit 100
Accepts the setting and stores the information of the set five program-corresponding channels in the SRAM 105 as a favorite channel. In this case, SRAM10
The information stored in 5 may be a tuning control signal for the channel, or tuning operation information (direct tuning operation information) from the corresponding remote commander 14.
May be

In the SRAM 105, in addition to the above information,
The channel number and the broadcasting station name of the set program corresponding channel are also stored.

Further, the SRAM 105 stores information as to whether or not a favorite channel is set, for example, a 1-bit flag FG. In this case, when the favorite channel is set, the flag FG is set to, for example, "1" and stored in the SRAM 105. Therefore, in the control circuit 100, this flag F
Whether G is "1" to "0" allows the user to determine whether or not the favorite channel is set.

When the favorite channel is not set by the user, the favorite channel selection key 27
When is pressed, in the present embodiment, the five most recent program-corresponding channels selected prior to the time point when the key 27 is pressed are set as favorite channels, and the multi-small channels of the five program-corresponding channels are selected. As shown in FIG. 3, the screen 10D of the display 10
To be displayed. For this reason, the SRAM 105 is configured to always store information of at least five channels corresponding to the tuning program before that time.
Channel numbers and broadcasting station names are also stored in the SRAM 105 for these five program-corresponding channels.

The channel number and broadcasting station name information stored in the SRAM 105 is used to display the channel number and broadcasting station name of each small screen when a multi-small screen is displayed. Even if the channel number and the broadcasting station name are not stored in the memory 105 as described above, the tuning of the remote commander 14 is performed based on the tuning control information and the tuning operation information related to the program compatible channels stored in the SRAM 105. Similarly to the operation, a signal for displaying the channel number or broadcasting station name can be generated and displayed on each small screen.

Next, the control circuit 1 in the case of this embodiment
The processing routine of the remote control signal from the remote commander 14 in 00 is mainly shown in the flow chart of FIG. 5, focusing on the processing related to the favorite channel selection function.

That is, normally, the control circuit 100 executes the remote commander 1 in steps 201 and 202.
It is in the state of waiting for the input of the remote control command from 4. When it is determined in step 202 that the remote control command is input, the process proceeds to step 203, and it is determined whether or not the remote control command is a key operation related to channel selection. If it is a key operation related to channel selection, the process proceeds to step 204, and it is determined whether or not the key operation is direct channel selection operation that is a direct channel number selection operation.

As a result of the judgment in step 204, the channel sequential selection key 28 is moved up / down instead of the direct channel selection.
If the stations are selected sequentially by the down operation, step 2
Proceed to 07 to execute the tuning operation, and then step 2
Return to the standby state of 01.

If the result of determination in step 204 is that it is direct channel selection, the process proceeds to step 205 and information relating to the channel corresponding to the selected program (channel selection control information or channel selection operation as described above). Signal or the like) is stored in the SRAM 105.

In step 205, the information of the program-corresponding channel which is still directly selected is stored in the SRAM 105.
If it is determined that it is not stored in step 206, step 206
Then, the information regarding the channel corresponding to the selected program is stored in the channel history storage area of the SRAM 105. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 207.

When it is determined in step 205 that the information of the program-corresponding channel directly selected is stored in the SRAM 105, the process jumps to step 207.

In step 207, as described above, the channel selection operation is executed, and thereafter, the standby state of step 201 is returned to.

Only the program-corresponding channels directly selected in steps 204 to 206 are stored in the channel history storage area because the user is conscious of the channel selection operation by the channel sequential selection key 28, It is rare to select a program-compatible channel, and it is often the operation when the viewing channel has not been decided. Generally, when the viewing channel has been decided, direct channel selection is generally used. Because there are many It is also taken into consideration that the program-corresponding channels during the channel selection operation by the channel sequential selection key 28 include channels that are not intended for channel selection and viewing.

Next, when it is determined in step 203 that the remote control command is not a key operation related to channel selection, the process proceeds to step 208 and it is determined whether or not the favorite channel selection key 27 is pressed. When it is determined that the favorite channel selection key 27 is not pressed, it is determined that the command is made by another key operation, the process proceeds to step 209, and after processing corresponding to the other key operation is performed, step 201 is performed. Return to standby mode.

If it is determined in step 208 that the favorite channel selection key 27 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 210, and the processing routine of the favorite channel selection function is executed. Then, when this processing routine ends, the process returns to step 201 to enter the command waiting state.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the routine of the favorite channel selection function of step 210. That is, first, when the favorite channel selection function is activated, it is determined in step 301 whether the favorite channel is set by the user and whether or not the favorite channel is SR.
It is determined by the flag FG of the AM 105.

When it is determined in step 301 that the favorite channel is set by the user by the flag FG, the process proceeds to step 302 and S
Information on five or less favorite channels set by the user is read from the RAM 105. Then, the process proceeds to step 303, and the tuning state of the tuner of the sub-screen is cyclically changed by sequentially changing the read one or more favorite channels at intervals of 200 msec as described above. Select to the state.

As a result, the multi-small screens P1 to P5 shown in FIG. 3 are displayed so as to be superimposed on the main screen. At this time, as described above, the channel numbers and broadcasting station names stored in the SRAM 105 are also displayed on each of the small screens P1 to P5.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 301 that the favorite channel is not set, the process proceeds to step 304, and the information of the five program-corresponding channels that have recently been directly selected is read from the SRAM 105. Then, the process proceeds to step 305, in which the channel selection state of the sub-screen tuner is set to the two program-corresponding channels read out as described above.
The state is sequentially changed every 00 msec to make the state of cyclic selection.

After step 303 or step 305, the process proceeds to step 306. In the case of this embodiment, on the screen of this favorite channel selection function, channel selection can be performed by selecting one of the small screens P1 to P5. That is, the small screen in the selected state is surrounded by the thick frame FL as shown in FIG. 3, and the user is notified. The user can change the small screen surrounded by the thick frame FL by operating the up / down key 32 of the remote commander 14.

In this embodiment, when the return key 34 is pressed while the small screen of the desired program compatible channel is surrounded by the thick frame FL, the control circuit 1
At 00, control is performed so that the program compatible channel of the small screen surrounded by the thick frame FL is selected as the main screen. In other words, the tuner providing the main screen is supplied with the tuning control signal of the program corresponding channel of the selected small screen.

In step 306, it is determined whether the up / down key 32 has been pressed. When it is determined that the up / down key 32 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 307, and the thick frame FL is moved to the small screen of the program corresponding channel being selected according to the operation.

Next, in step 308, it is determined whether the return key 34 has been pressed. Return key 3
If it is determined that 4 has not been pressed, step 3
Returning to 06, it is determined whether the up / down key 32 has been pressed. If it is determined that the return key 34 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 309, where the tuning control signal of the program corresponding channel of the small screen being selected by the thick frame FL is
Supply to the tuner that provides the main screen. Then, in the next step 310, the multi-small screens P1 to P5 are erased, and this favorite channel selection function is terminated.

If it is determined in step 306 that the up / down key 32 is not operated, step 31
In step 1, it is determined whether or not a key operation that means forced termination of the favorite channel selection function, for example, the reset key 35 has been pressed. When it is determined that the reset key 35 is pressed, the process proceeds to step 310, the multi-small screens P1 to P5 are erased, and the favorite channel selection function is forcibly terminated. Also, in step 311, the reset key 35
If it is determined that is not pressed, step 30
Return to 6.

The favorite channel selection function is realized as described above. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the favorite channel selection function described above with reference to the display screen. In the example of FIG. 7, the channel number 38, the broadcasting station name “ESPN” channel number 4, the broadcasting station name “NBC” channel number 30, the broadcasting station name “CNN” channel number 16, the broadcasting station name “HBO” are set by the user. This is a case where five program-corresponding channels with the channel number 52 and the broadcasting station name "PBS" are set as favorite channels.

That is, FIG. 7A shows only the main screen.
A screen (hereinafter, referred to as a normal screen) of the display 10 while watching a television program having a channel number “2” and a broadcasting station name “CBS” is shown.

When the user depresses the favorite channel selection key 27 of the remote commander 14 on this normal screen, the information about the channel selection of the program corresponding channels (1) to (4) previously set by the user is stored in the SRAM.
The multi-small screen processing is performed as described above, and the multi-small screens P1 to P5 as shown in FIG. 7B are superimposed on the main screen until then on the screen 10D of the display 10. Is displayed.

In the display screens of the multi-small screens P1 to P5, as shown in FIG. 7B, one of the five small screens is surrounded by a thick frame FL. Then, when the return key 34 is pressed in the remote commander 14 in this state, the control circuit 100 performs a process of selecting the program corresponding channel of the small screen surrounded by the thick frame FL as the main screen. Then, the multi-small screen is deleted, and the program of the selected small screen is displayed on the screen 10D as a single main screen as shown in FIG. 7C.

Further, when the user does not set the program corresponding channel for the favorite channel selection, the operation is as shown in FIG.

That is, when the user presses the favorite channel selection key 27 of the remote commander 14 in the state of the normal screen shown in FIG. 8A, a multi-small screen as shown in FIG. 8B is displayed on the screen of the display 10.

That is, of the multi-small screens P1 to P5, the small screen P1 is a small image of the broadcast program of the program corresponding channel currently viewed on the main screen. Also,
The small image P2 is a small image of the broadcast program of the program-corresponding channel which is stored in the channel history storage area of the SRAM 105 and is selected one channel before the present. Similarly, the small images P3, P4, and P5 are stored in the SRAM 10
It is a small image of the broadcast program of the program-corresponding channel stored in the channel history storage area 5 of 5, which is selected two, three, and four before the present.

Then, as in the case where the favorite channel is set, the user presses the up / down key 32 on the superimposition screen of the multi-small screen.
When a small screen of a desired program corresponding channel is selected by operating the return key 34, the program corresponding channel is brought into a state of being selected as a main screen.

As described above, even when the user does not know the existence of the favorite channel selection function, when the user selects the favorite channel selection key 27, the SR
From the channel history storage area of the AM 105, five program-corresponding channels that have recently been directly selected are read out, and the broadcast program contents of the five program-corresponding channels at that time are displayed on the display 10 as small screens P1 to P5. Displayed on the screen.

Therefore, even a user who does not know the existence of the favorite channel selection function can be made aware of the existence of the favorite channel selection function.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, when the user has not set favorite channels, the five program-corresponding channels that have recently been directly selected are set as the favorite channels on the small screen P1. It was displayed on ~ P5, but the day of the week,
It is also possible to select five favorite channels corresponding to a long duration of a tuning state for each time zone by selecting favorite channels from past channel history and displaying them as small screens P1 to P5.

In this embodiment, the channel history information is stored in the tuner 2M or the tuner 2S at regular intervals.
The channel selection state of the tuner providing the main screen is sampled, and the program corresponding channel selected at that time is written and stored in the channel history storage area of the SRAM 105.

In the case of this embodiment, the clock circuit 11
With the timer information from, the tuner that provides the main screen is searched for the channel selection status of the program compatible channel as an interrupt process at regular intervals, and the program compatible channel of the tuner at that time The channel selection state of is stored in the SRAM 105.

In the method of creating the channel history information of this example, since the CPU 101 is an interrupt at constant time intervals, if only the starting time is known as the absolute time information, the time at each sampling point is regarded as the elapsed time from that time. Since it can be known, it is not necessary to store the time information at each sampling time in the SRAM 105 as it is.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are image diagrams of the management method of the channel history information in this case.
This is an image of the channel history storage area of the AM 105. In FIGS. 9A, 9B and 10,
The position indicated by the arrow is the position of the pointer P. The pointer P indicates the current point in time in the storage area, and as shown in FIG.
The channel history storage area of the RAM 105 manages a ring structure as channel history data.

In this example, n before the current time
(N is an integer of 2 or more) SR of weekly channel history information
The information is always stored in the AM 105, and new channel history information is sequentially accumulated while discarding information older than n weeks ago.

That is, in this example, for example, 10
The tuner providing the main screen is scanned every minute for channel history acquisition, and the channel history information obtained as a result is continuous at 10-minute intervals as shown in FIG. Managed by address space. Then, when the storage area of the ring structure as shown in FIG. 10 becomes full, as shown in FIG. 9B, the oldest channel history data is discarded and the newly fetched current channel history data is stored in the storage area. Use a storage method that stores data.

In the case of this embodiment, the SRAM 10
The channel history data stored in 5 is stored for at least a plurality of weeks as described above. Then, the CPU 101 can manage the channel history data of the SRAM 105 for each day of the week.
This is because at 10-minute intervals, 144 times that amount is for one day and 7 times that amount is for one week, so it can be easily managed by counting the number of channel history data. is there.

In this case, the channel history data is fetched by the interrupt process as described above at XX hours 01 minutes, XX
Hours 11 minutes, xx hours 21 minutes, xx hours 31 minutes, etc.
It will be started when the program actually starts.

Prior to storing the channel history data in the channel history data storage area of the SRAM 105,
This area is initialized. In other words, it is cleared. At the same time, the pointer position for storing the history is also initialized. Since the history information in the past is cleared by this initialization, this initialization setting is performed, for example, in the television receiver by allocating the remote control data and the program corresponding channel and registering the current time in the clock circuit 11. This is something that is triggered.

Here, the allocation of the remote control data and the program corresponding channels means, for example, that the user allocates a numeric key for direct tuning by the remote commander 14 to any program corresponding channel (broadcasting station). It is an operation. Generally, this direct channel setting and the like are performed when the television receiver is purchased, but may be appropriately performed by the user.

Next, the recording operation of the channel history in this example will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, in the case of this example, when an interrupt occurs at intervals of 10 minutes, which is considered that broadcasting is actually performed as described above (step S0), this channel history data fetch processing routine is started.

Then, in the next step S1, SR
The pointer is updated in the channel history storage area of the AM 105. This updating of the pointer secures a new data area, and in this step S1, the processing of null clearing (zeroing) the newly secured data area is also performed. In the case of this example, the channel history storage area of the SRAM 105 is managed in the ring shape as described above, and therefore, after the ring-shaped channel history data area is full, the pointer update processing is not performed. , The oldest channel history data will be discarded.

In this case, if the address of the new data area due to the pointer update exceeds the final address of the ring-shaped memory area, the pointer is reset to the head address.

In this case, while the main power switch of the television receiver is on, the start-up is started through step S0, in this example, every 10 minutes, but the main power switch of the television receiver is off. During this time, the interrupt processing to the processing routine of FIG. 11 is not started. Therefore, in this example, since the clock circuit 11 is operating with a separate power supply, the time information is used, and in this step S1, the main power supply is turned off at the first interrupt timing after the next main power supply is turned on. The update processing of the channel history storage area, which should be performed in a certain period, is performed.

That is, in this example, the SRAM 105 is made to hold the time of the interrupt timing performed immediately before the main power switch is turned off. And
After that, the main power switch of the TV receiver is turned on,
When the interrupt timing comes, the SRAM 105
Of the interrupt timing performed immediately before the main power switch is turned off, the number of interrupts to be performed during that period is detected, the pointer is updated for the number of interrupts, and the number of interrupts is updated. Make sure that all data areas are null-cleared. Then, the data area corresponding to the current interrupt timing is updated.

When the pointer has been updated and a new data area has been secured in this way, the flow advances to step S2 to check whether the broadcast is currently being viewed. This process
Although not shown in FIG. 1, the television receiver is provided with an external input terminal, and is performed in order to prevent viewing of an external video signal from a VTR or the like from viewing the broadcast.

If the broadcast wave is being viewed, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S3, and the information of the program corresponding channel selected by the tuner of the main screen at that time is newly updated. Store in the secured data area. The information content of the stored channel corresponding to the program may be a channel number,
Alternatively, it may be tuning control data supplied to the tuner.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S2 that the broadcast wave is not being viewed, the process proceeds to step S4 and "0" is set in the newly secured data area. Note that, in this example, even when the main power of the television receiver is not turned on due to the processing during the main power-off of the television receiver in step S1 described above, the data area of the channel history also has " “0” is held, and this state also means that the television broadcast is not being viewed.

After finishing the processing of step S3 or step S4, this routine is finished from step S5.

In this way, in this example, the information of the program corresponding channel of the broadcast wave being viewed at that time is left as a new history every 10 minutes in the channel history storage area for a plurality of weeks of the SRAM 105. .
Then, as described above, when the channel history areas for a plurality of weeks are full, new channel history information is sequentially written while discarding the old history.

FIG. 12 shows an example in which the channel history information for one day is represented in the form of a table. In this example, in each channel history data area Dch, information on program-corresponding channel numbers is stored. ing. The time shown on the left side of the channel history data area Dch in FIG. 12 is the time when each channel history data is fetched. In this example, these times are as described above. You don't have to remember it.

In the case of this embodiment, since the channel history is updated in units of 10 minutes, 6 × 24 =
144 pieces of history data are stored. Therefore, 144 × 7 = 1,008 history data items are recorded in one week. In this case, if one channel history data has a length of 1 byte, it will be 1008 bytes in one week. As described above, since it is necessary to collect the history for multiple weeks, the memory area for an integer multiple of 1008 bytes is
The channel history storage area is set in the SRAM 105.

As described above, in the case of this example, the channel history data table is as shown in FIG. 12, and since the number of history data per day and week is determined, If you know the data area that has a relative time relationship, such as 1 week ago, 2 weeks ago,
It is possible to easily obtain past channel history data at the same time. Therefore, as described above, the channel history information stored in the SRAM 105 does not need to be the absolute time information of the fetch time of each history data.

In the above example, the pointer is updated by a fixed amount with the lapse of time. Therefore, while the main power of the television receiver is off, the pointer is updated and the data is updated as described above. Null clear of the area will be repeated. Therefore, when the main power is turned on next time after the main power switch of the television receiver is turned off, the number of interrupts that should be performed during the main power off is detected, and the data to be recorded in the channel history memory area is as follows. It is also possible to save the memory area by recording a code indicating the continuation of the null data for the number of times, for example, [FF **] (where ** indicates the number of null data) in hexadecimal notation.

In the above example, the channel history information is fetched at intervals of 10 minutes.
It may be every 30 minutes, or every 1 minute or every 5 minutes if the memory area of the channel history information is sufficiently large. However, the broadcast time of the program is 30 minutes or 60
Since it is on a minute-by-minute basis, when channel history information is fetched periodically as in this example, every 8 minutes or 9
It is better not to have a timing that causes a unit deviation such as every minute.

Further, instead of always fetching the channel history information at a constant time interval, a time zone generally called a prime time with a high audience rating may be finely divided.

In this embodiment, S is performed as described above.
From the past channel history information stored in the RAM 105, in this example, five favorite channel selections that have been selected and viewed by the user for a long time are determined for each day of the week and time zone, and are stored in the SRAM 105. Make a table for each day of the week.

That is, FIG. 13 is a table showing an example of favorite channel selection by time zone, for example, every 30 minutes on Monday in the table for each day of the week. In the table of FIG. 13, for example, when one day of the same day, that is, Monday in this case, elapses, five favorite channel selections for each time period of the day are updated.

Now, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the five favorite channels in the SRAM 105 in the time zone from 6 am to 6:30 am on Monday have a channel number 87 and a broadcasting station name "WEA". Channel number 27, broadcasting station name "TRF" channel number 2, broadcasting station name "CBS" channel number 6, broadcasting station name "ABC" channel number 28, broadcasting station name "TBS" are decided by the user. Assume that the favorite channel is not set.

In this case, when the user presses the favorite channel selection key 27 of the remote commander 14 at 6:00 am in the state of the normal screen as shown in FIG. 14A, the multi-small screen P1 as shown in FIG. 14B is displayed. ~ P5 is displayed on the screen 10D of the display 10, and the user is notified of the five broadcast programs that have been frequently viewed in the past in the same time zone.

Therefore, the user can know the existence of the favorite channel selection function and can select a program that he / she wants to watch in the time zone from the programs he has often viewed in the past. Therefore, it is possible to watch without watching the serial drama, morning weather forecast, traffic information and the like. In the case of this embodiment, the stored contents of the favorite channel for each time zone and day of the week are updated by the channel history up to that point, so even if the program is changed to a new program every season. ,
It becomes a favorite channel that automatically matches the change.

In this embodiment, the favorite channels to be displayed as the small screens P1 to P5 are determined according to the time zone of each specific day of the week. Irrespective of, the favorite channel may be determined only for each time zone.

[Other example of small screen display] Instead of displaying the small screen by superimposing it on the main screen, as shown in FIG.
If a small screen is displayed by using the entire screen 10D of the display 10, the number of channels that can be displayed as favorite channels can be increased and the size of each small screen can be increased. Since the size of the small screen can be increased, when the user selects a channel from these small screens, it becomes easy to fully understand the program content and select the channel.

Further, instead of displaying the image of the program contents on the small screen, if only the channel number of the program compatible channel and the broadcasting station name are displayed as shown in FIG. 16, the small screen is displayed on the main screen. Even when the screens are superimposed, it is possible to display even more program compatible channels on the screen as favorite channels.

[Other Embodiments] In the above example, when the favorite channel selection key 27 is operated by the user when the favorite channel has not been set by the user, the TV is selected from the past channel selection history. The receiver automatically sets the favorite channel,
Although it is displayed on the display screen as a multi-small screen, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, the favorite channel selection key of the remote commander 14 is a seesaw-type key 41, and a manual and automatic ( Auto) and both can be selected.

When the manual is selected with the key 41, the favorite channel selected by the user is read from the memory, and the small screen of the read channel is set in the same manner as in the above-mentioned embodiment. To be displayed on the display screen.

Further, when automatic is selected by the key 41, the favorite channel is automatically determined by the control circuit 100 from the channel selection history as described above, and the small screen of the determined channel is displayed as described above. It is formed similarly to the case of the embodiment and is displayed on the display screen.

In the case of this embodiment, when the manual is selected by the key 41, the multi-small screen is not displayed if there is no channel setting. However, the key 41 also has an automatic position. The user can recognize the existence of the favorite channel selection function. Then, after recognizing the favorite channel selection function, the user can further effectively use the favorite channel selection function by appropriately selecting manual or automatic and using the favorite channel selection function.

It should be noted that instead of one seesaw key 41,
Of course, it is also possible to provide a manual favorite tuning key and an automatic favorite tuning key in the remote commander 14, respectively.

[Another Example of Broadcast Receiving Apparatus] The above example is the case of a terrestrial broadcast television receiver, but the example described below is for a digital satellite broadcast whose broadcasting has started in the United States.
This is a case where the present invention is applied. In the above-mentioned analog terrestrial broadcasting, in Japan, the frequency band is divided into 6 MHz, for example, and each divided frequency band is used as a broadcast transmission channel. Since it was designed to correspond to 1, by selecting one broadcast transmission channel, a specific broadcast station (program compatible channel)
It is possible to selectively receive the programs.

On the other hand, in the digital satellite broadcasting of this example, the transmission channel and the program corresponding channel (corresponding to the broadcasting station in this example, the same applies hereinafter) do not match, and the channel shows a specific frequency band. It does not become a thing. This is to effectively use the broadcast frequency band.

That is, in digital satellite broadcasting, video and audio are compressed and broadcast by a method such as MPEG1 or MPEG2, and a program with a small screen movement has a small amount of information to be broadcast. Often,
On the other hand, in the case of a moving image such as a sports program, a large amount of information is required to broadcast the image without degrading the image quality. So when you broadcast a certain program,
By changing the broadcast frequency or frequency group to be used according to the amount of information to be broadcast, the broadcast frequency band is effectively used. That is, when the amount of information is small, a plurality of programs can be broadcast at one frequency or one frequency group, and when the amount of information is large, even if one program has a plurality of frequencies. Alternatively, it may be necessary to broadcast using a plurality of frequency groups.

In digital satellite broadcasting, as described above, the use condition of the broadcast wave is not fixed with respect to the program-corresponding channel. Therefore, as a broadcast signal of a certain specific frequency group, another broadcast wave frequency or frequency group is It tries to broadcast information about how it is being used for programmatic channels. In this specification, this is called an index channel.

The information of this index channel includes
It also includes information on the broadcast program schedule including program titles. For this reason, in digital satellite broadcasting, if the program-compatible channel and time are known, the title of the broadcast program can be obtained from the index channel.
Therefore, if this program title information is stored together with the channel history information in the SRAM 105, not only the program-corresponding channel and broadcasting station name but
The program title can be reported on the small screen as program information.

In the case of digital television broadcasting, it is not necessary to provide two tuners and one program selector and two decoders can replace this. Since the broadcast wave transmission channel does not match the program corresponding channel representing the program, in this case, the program corresponding channel is stored as the channel history information as the channel selection information.

In the above examples, the channel selection method and device according to the present invention are applied to the device for receiving the television broadcast wave, but the present invention receives the cable television broadcast and the radio broadcast. It goes without saying that it is also applicable to the case.

[0153]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to set a favorite channel and guarantee the function to a user who favors the favorite channel selection function, and at the same time, the favorite channel selection function can be guaranteed. A user who does not set the favorite channel without knowing the existence of the station function can be made aware of the existence of the function.

If the manual / automatic favorite channel selection function can be selected by the key,
It is possible to use the favorite channel selection function without setting the favorite channel by the user.

Therefore, according to the television receiver of the present invention, the user can surely recognize the favorite channel selection function and effectively utilize it, thereby improving the overall usability of the television receiver. You can

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of a channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display of a favorite channel selection function in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a remote commander used in an embodiment of a channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine of a main part in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine of a favorite channel selection function in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a favorite channel selection function in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a favorite channel selection function in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a channel history data management method used in an embodiment of a channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a channel history data management method used in an embodiment of a channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a storage procedure of channel history data used in an embodiment of a channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining one day of channel history data used in the embodiment of the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a favorite channel of a specific day of the week determined from a channel history in the embodiment of the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a favorite channel selection function in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing another example of screen display of favorite channels in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of a screen display of favorite channels in the embodiment of the channel selection method and the channel selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a remote commander used in another embodiment of the channel selection device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2M tuner 2S tuner 11 Clock circuit 14 Remote commander 27 Favorite channel selection key 28 Channel sequential selection key 31 Menu key 32 Up / down key 34 Return key 41 Seesaw type favorite channel selection key 100 Control circuit 101 CPU 103 ROM 105 Channel history information SRAM for storage

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A user-preferred program-corresponding channel preset by a user is stored in a storage means, and the favorite program-corresponding channel is read from the storage means in response to a predetermined key input. , The favorite program corresponding channels are displayed on the display screen in a state in which the user can identify, and the user performs channel selection operation on the display screen, whereby the one or more favorite program corresponding channels are displayed. In the channel selection method of selecting a channel from among the above, when a channel history storage means for storing the past selection state of the program corresponding channel is provided and the favorite program corresponding channel is not set by the user, , Program support based on past channel selection channel history stored in the channel history storage means A channel selection method characterized in that the channels are displayed on the display screen in an identifiable state. 2. The tuning method according to claim 1, wherein the method of displaying the program-corresponding channels on the display screen in an identifiable state involves displaying the broadcast content of each program-corresponding channel. . 3. A tuning means for selecting a desired program compatible channel signal from a broadcast wave according to a tuning control signal, and a tuning means for generating the tuning control signal according to a tuning operation by a user. Control signal generating means, set channel storing means for storing one or more program corresponding channels set by a user, channel history storing means for storing past selection states of the program corresponding channels by the tuning means, When there is a predetermined key input, it is determined whether or not there is a program corresponding channel set by the user in the set channel storing means, and when there is a set program corresponding channel, the set channel storing means The channel corresponding to the program stored in the means is displayed on the display screen in an identifiable state, and the set program is set. When there is no program-corresponding channel, there is provided control means for displaying on the display screen the program-corresponding channel based on the past channel selection channel history stored in the channel history storage means in an identifiable manner. A station selecting device, wherein the station operation includes an operation of selecting a program corresponding channel from the display of the display screen. 4. A tuning unit for selecting a desired program compatible channel signal from a broadcast wave according to a tuning control signal, and a tuning unit for generating the tuning control signal according to a tuning operation by a user. Control signal generating means, set channel storing means for storing one or more program corresponding channels set by a user, channel history storing means for storing past selection states of the program corresponding channels by the tuning means, When the first key input is made, the program corresponding channel stored in the set channel storage means is displayed on the display screen in an identifiable state, and when the second key input is made, the channel history storage is made. Display on the display screen in a identifiable state the program compatible channel based on the past channel history stored in the means And a control means for controlling the channel selection operation, wherein the user's channel selection operation includes a program selection channel selection operation from the display on the display screen. 5. The display according to claim 3 or 4, wherein displaying the display screen in a state in which the program corresponding channel can be identified is accompanied by displaying broadcast contents on each program corresponding channel. Tuning device. 6. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program corresponding channels displayed on the display screen based on past channel selection history are the latest 1 to a plurality of program corresponding channels. A channel selection device characterized by being present. 7. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program-corresponding channels displayed on the display screen based on past channel selection history are one or more of the most recently selected channels. A channel selection device, which is a program-corresponding channel and is selected by a direct channel selection operation of a user. 8. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program-corresponding channel displayed on the display screen based on the history of past channel selection has a long duration 1 to 1 A channel selection device having a plurality of program compatible channels. 9. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program corresponding channel displayed on the display screen based on the history of past channel selection is the day of the week when the predetermined key input is made. A channel selection device, characterized in that the channel selection state is one or a plurality of program-corresponding channels that continue for a long time. 10. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a program-corresponding channel displayed on a display screen based on past channel selection history is in a time zone when the predetermined key input is performed. A channel selection device characterized in that it is a channel corresponding to one or a plurality of programs for which the channel selection state continues for a long time. 11. The channel selection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program-corresponding channel displayed on the display screen based on past channel selection history is the day of the week when the predetermined key input was made, and A channel selection device characterized in that it is a channel corresponding to one to a plurality of programs in which a channel selection state continues for a long time period.